Do these bills and rhetoric feel familiar?! That’s because it’s part of a national political agenda just repackaging the oldest trick in the playbook: Controlling our bodies and decisions.

• The politicians pushing these bills are the same ones attempting to control curricula in our schools, monitor what restrooms our residents can use, and decide for us when or if we can use birth control or get reproductive healthcare. It’s also part of the national effort to interfere with Maine’s right to create our own laws for our communities.
• Policing who is or isn’t a “girl” through any type of sex verification testing — whether it’s a blood or a DNA test, or child being forced to undergo a genital exam– is a disturbing, deeply inappropriate violation of privacy, and puts all young people at risk of sexual abuse.  These practices unfairly scrutinize girls’ and non-binary people’s bodies, and have been shown to disproportionately impact girls of color.
• These bills would embolden sports spectators, members of the public, and students to harass and scrutinize girls who may not conform to stereotypical feminine appearances. If these bills pass, they will become another weapon for bullies to use against all young people in Maine. 
• This legislation will actively harm all youth in sports, and would promote cruelty instead of fairness. It will sow fear, distrust and confusion in schools across the state, and put a target on the backs of a small group of vulnerable students who already receive a great deal of hostility. Read more on the issue HERE.